Culms stoloniferous, hard, stout, many-noded, rooting and copiously branching at nodes, flowering shoots ascending to 30–100 cm, internodes farinose. Leaf sheaths broad, rounded on back, imbricate; leaf blades distichous, very tough, involute-subulate, curved, 5–20 × 0.2–0.3 cm, margins scabrous, apex spiny; ligule densely ciliate. Staminate inflorescence of 2–5 clustered turbinate heads 5–10 × 6–8 cm; racemes 3–6 cm, bearing 5–10 loosely imbricate spikelets. Staminate spikelets lanceolate, 8–12 mm; glumes oblong-lanceolate, 7–9-veined, lower glume 1/2 spikelet length, upper glume 2/3 spikelet length; lower lemma 5-veined, 8–10 mm, palea with winged ciliate keels; upper lemma with unkeeled palea. Female inflorescence globose, 20–35 cm in diam.; racemes unispiculate with needle-like 10–18 cm rachis. Female spikelets lanceolate-oblong, 10–20 mm, acuminate; glumes oblong-lanceolate, low-er glume many-veined, upper glume 7–9-veined; lower lemma ovate-lanceolate, 5-veined, palea absent; upper lemma lanceolate, yellowish. Fl. and fr. summer-autumn.
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